Published 3:45 pm, Thursday, April 7, 2016

Photo: Jason Fochtman

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The Woodlands midfielder Julen Ormaza celebrates after the Highlanders defeated Klein Forest 2-1 in a Region II-6A quarterfinal match at Klein Memorial Stadium on Tuesday. Go to HCNpics.com to purchase this photo and others like it. less

The Woodlands midfielder Julen Ormaza celebrates after the Highlanders defeated Klein Forest 2-1 in a Region II-6A quarterfinal match at Klein Memorial Stadium on Tuesday. Go to HCNpics.com to purchase this ... more

The Woodlands coach Hans Kleinschmidt is no stranger to regional tournaments. After all, his teams have scrapped and clawed their way to the fourth round of the UIL state playoffs in nine of the past 11 seasons.

But that consistent level of success certainly doesn’t dampen his exuberance about the Highlanders’ trip to the Region II-6A tournament this year.

The Woodlands (20-1-3) will take on Naaman Forest (19-1-4) in the semifinals at 4 p.m. today at Round Rock ISD’s Kelly Reeves Athletic Complex in Austin.

“They’re all excited,” Kleinschmidt said of his players. “They know it’s extremely difficult to get this far, and they’ve all bought into the family. It means a lot to them. When one of us scores, all of us score. When one of us celebrates, we all celebrate. This is just a great group to be around. We really are excited about the opportunity.”

The Woodlands is coming off a thrilling 2-1 victory over Klein Forest on Tuesday, a game in which Rafael Ortiz tallied the game-winner with just a couple of minutes left on the clock at Klein Memorial Stadium.

Pulling out gritty wins has become the Highlanders’ M.O. during this postseason run. They defeated Klein Collins, 2-1, in the bi-district round and followed that with a 2-1 triumph over Round Rock McNeil in the area round.

“These kids play for each other; I guess that’s the biggest thing,” Kleinschmidt said. “We’ve faced a lot of adversity over the last couple of weeks with injuries and illnesses, and these kids have had the attitude that they are just going to play for each other and play as hard as they possibly can.”

Naaman Forest, located in the Dallas suburb of Garland, has won 11 consecutive games and is coming off a 1-0 win over Irving in the regional quarterfinals on Tuesday. The Rangers were the District 11-6A champions with a 13-1 mark and have only conceded 11 goals all season.

“Defensively, they’re really, really strong,” said Kleinschmidt, whose team hasn’t suffered a loss in 22 straight matches. “They’re a team that’s going to defend, defend, defend and then try to get one goal. Our job is to apply the pressure, and once we get a goal or two, do the same thing to them.”

The winner between The Woodlands and Naaman Forest will advance to the regional finals, which will be played at 1 p.m. on Saturday at Reeves Athletic Complex.

North Mesquite (20-2-2) and Lake Travis (25-1) will clash at 6 p.m. tonight to decide the other half of the matchup.